Livadi Nafsika

I paid €70 in tourist tax for seven nights, €10 per night, which felt like too much given the hotel’s services. I wouldn’t call this a four-star hotel. The food was okay but almost the same each day, and the buffet wasn’t fully set out when it opened. If you eat early, either at breakfast or dinner, there are fewer options. The staff were okay too. To me, it’s three stars at most.

It’s an adults-only hotel, which helps if you’re looking for rest. The place is quiet and away from the main street noise, with only a short walk to the beach. We booked late and paid a lot, but felt it was worth it. The rooms are small but clean, and breakfast and dinner were excellent for the price. There’s plenty of parking, and activities like tennis, a gym, and spa access are included.

We still enjoyed our stay, but the hotel was just okay and seemed short-staffed. There are two bars but only one bartender, so the pool bar was often shut while lots of people were sitting there. They appeared to have only six pint glasses, and sometimes ran out of the smaller ones too, so you had to bring a glass back or settle for half a small beer. Entertainment was average, and breakfast was good. Bread and butter pudding in the morning was a revelation. The pool area was nice, but the bedrooms were nothing special, with wires sticking out of the wall. Cleaning was patchy: our room was missed one day, which wasn’t great with the bin by the toilet, and another day the cleaner left the balcony door open. Some promotional photos have clearly been filtered. The Greek hotel star system seems odd to me. This is listed as four stars, probably so the government can collect the €10 a night tax, but the facilities didn’t feel four-star. You get what you pay for, I suppose. Dassia itself wasn’t the nicest resort, and the Ikos Resort seems to have taken over several smaller hotels for staff accommodation, leaving a few places on the main street looking abandoned. Still, there are good tavernas around and we didn’t have a bad meal all week.

The breakfast stood out, with plenty of fresh choices and better quality than I expected. The room was a standard size, comfortable and clean, with everything I needed. The decor looked a little dated, but everything was functional and well looked after. I had a pleasant stay overall.